Toyota’s Corolla has been displaced as the best-selling vehicle in Japan for the first time in 20 years after being overtaken by another of the carmaker’s models, the Prius Hybrid.
The Prius also passed another Corolla record by selling 315,000 units last year beating the previous annual best of 300,000 models set in 1990.
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Sales of the Prius were boosted during 2010 by government subsidies and tax incentives for environmentally friendly cars.
Total domestic new vehicle sales in Japan are believed to have totalled less than 5m in 2010, compared with some 7.78m in 1990. Prius sales through November last year totalled 297,563 units.
As of 28 December, the car is understood to have achieved a further 18,000 sales although final year-end figures will not be announced by the Japan Automobile Dealers Association until 11 January.
